Vermilion River lives up to scenic river designation

Tuesday

Jun 23, 2009 at 12:01 AMJun 23, 2009 at 10:19 PM

The scout in the canoe ahead wasn’t happy. It was clear the boy wanted to be anywhere but here on the Middle Fork of the Vermilion River — the only designated National Scenic River in Illinois. Then the patient scoutmaster pointed out a great blue heron that flushed as the canoe rounded a bend. Suddenly the boy’s outlook changed and his eyes widened as the tall wading bird flew off.

Chris Young

The scout in the canoe ahead wasn’t happy. He groused and groused. He told the scoutmaster in the stern that he hadn’t really wanted to go canoeing that day.

It was clear the boy wanted to be anywhere but here on the Middle Fork of the Vermilion River — the only designated National Scenic River in Illinois.

Then the patient scoutmaster — dressed the part in khaki shorts and unaffected by the boy’s attitude — pointed out a great blue heron that flushed as the canoe rounded a bend.

Suddenly the boy’s outlook changed and his eyes widened as the tall wading bird flew off.

“Did you see the great blue heron?” he asked of every passing canoe.

It’s inevitable that eventually even the most hardened defenses are lowered and the Middle Fork can be appreciated for its scenery and wildlife.

The Middle Fork, located near Danville in Vermilion County, has a surprising history. Around the turn of the century, much of the county was mined for coal, both underground and on the surface.

“Visitors are surprised at how beautiful the park has become,” says Todd Satterthwaite, owner of Kickapoo Landing at Kickapoo State Recreation Area, “because the connotation is that mining is a rape of the land.”

People expect to see a stark, abandoned landscape and piles of rubble, he adds, not reclaimed land that is reforested and one that features deep, clear lakes.

While it is true that a century of mining devastated the land, the recuperative powers of nature — assisted by the residents of the Danville area — put the former mine ground on the road to recovery over the past 70 years.

Contributions were used to underwrite the state’s purchase of the initial 1,290 acres from United Electric Coal Co. The park today is 2,842 acres.

The state of Illinois acquired the land in 1939, Satterthwaite says. Efforts to repair the land in the late 1930s and early 1940s led to the creation of Kickapoo State Recreation Area.

According to a report developed by the Critical Trends Assessment Project of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the coal industry was thriving in Vermilion County — and elsewhere in Illinois — in the last half of the 19th century and early 20th century.

Vermilion County had 22 mines employing 1,024 people in 1882. Those miners produced 343,000 tons of coal. Production peaked in 1927, according to the report, with 3,000 miners producing 1.2 million tons.

In all, more than 30 million tons have been extracted from the county, the report says, with 5.5 square miles surface strip-mined. Underground mining removed even more coal, with 310 mines covering 35 square miles.

Improvements in technology and the size of equipment made strip-mining more feasible. By the mid-1960s, nearly all of the coal mined in Vermilion County was being removed by strip-mining.

In the book “Paddling Illinois: 64 Great Trips by Canoe and Kayak,” Mike Svob says many canoeists are unaware of the Middle Fork’s mining history.

He describes the Middle Fork with affection.

“The average gradient of five feet per mile is reflected in a steady succession of delightful riffles,” he writes. “And the setting is enhanced by lovely bluffs and cliffs.”

Satterthwaite’s business rents canoes, kayaks, tubes and paddleboats for use on the river and on Clear Lake, adjacent to Kickapoo Landing.

Canoe and kayak trips of eight and 13 miles are available. Shuttle services takes canoeists and their equipment to the put-in points. Trips end back at Kickapoo Landing.

The park and Kickapoo Landing are accessed from the Oakwood exit off Interstate 74 just west of Danville. The trip takes just under two hours by car from Springfield.

Satterthwaite took a break from repairing boats on Wednesday to talk about how the business has changed.

He says his business has grown two to two-and-a-half times in size since Kickapoo Landing opened seven years ago.

“Over the years, we’ve seen quite an increase in interest in the outdoors in general and paddling in particular,” he says.

Still, weather and water levels are the wild cards for the business that can float an armada of up to 70 canoes and 30 kayaks.

Lifestyle

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